Samsung Electronics aims to ship 500 million handsets in 2013, of which 350 million will be smartphone models, citing an internal forecast estimate by Samsung.

As global smartphone shipments are expected to reach 860-900 million units in 2013 as projected by some market research institutes, Samsung's smartphone shipments will account for over 40% global market share.

Samsung's strategies of launching Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series as flagship models to build brand image and bring favorable influence on sales of its entry-level and mid-range smartphones have proven successful, enabling the Korea-based vendor to hold up the top vendor ranking.